Former Racists

[Dictatorship Of Serdaristan]

Partisans killed Nazis in WWII, Nazis claim innocence.
Palestinians kill Israelis. Israelis claim innocence.

And I don't mean Nazi soldiers, I mean supporters of the national socialist party and party members.

Zomg, you just proved that ALL ISREALIS ARE NAZIS. That's amazing that I was so wrong.

I use the Nazi example specifically because I'm talking about Israel, because it really gets the attention of the pro-Israel side.
To think I'm saying Israelis are Nazis is simply very stupid.

[Vietnam]

I used to be really racist towards the Japanese and Chinese, as well as the British, Arabs, and Turks.

I hated British people in 5th grade when I had this obsession with France due to Napoleon. That stopped though, almost immediately, due to this British girl who was in the same class as me, and was really nice to me after I'd been thinking racist thoughts about that person. It made me feel really bad, a bit confused, but most of all, just really stupid.

In that grade (and it'd last until the middle of 6th grade) I was also a really devout Christian, and I hated anything which I associated with Muslims. I hated how the Crusades were largely a failure, and wanted to wipe out the Arabs and Turks who I associated with it. I also hated Buddhists, as I felt it was what prevented Korea from becoming Christian (yes, incredibly stupid, I know).

I hated Japanese/Chinese people from the 5th grade on, as a hardcore Korean nationalist and due to everyone thinking that I was either Chinese or Japanese, which really pissed me off back then. In 6th grade, I wrote a list trying to describe all the evil things Japan did to Korea, and all this other crap, and I thought Yu-Gi-Oh! was an evil Japanese conspiracy to make fun of the Korean War (it's pronounced the same as 6-2-5 in Korean, which is what the Korean War is often called in Korea, as North Korea invaded on June 25th). I would also be involved in stupid arguments with others on Youtube. I wanted to exterminate the Japanese, and send all Chinese to labor camps where they would serve the interests of Koreans. I remember I liked this in 6th grade one girl who I thought was Chinese, and thought in my mind that I wouldn't send her to those camps. I'd acquired a reputation for being smart there (I'd read big books to look smart and I was good at math), and I would tell them that this was due to the inherent superiority of the Korean race. Oh god, that was embarrassing.

I don't know when I really stopped having those thoughts and feelings though. Somewhere in later 6th grade, probably. I think that for a while, I just started feeling apathetic towards Christianity and the whole thought of being Korean. I got really interested in Russia and the Soviet Union after that, and I guess those thoughts gradually faded away before disappearing entirely. Any racist thoughts towards the Japanese disappeared entirely when in 7th grade I became a huge Japanophile.

So you traded Bigotry for Fetishism?

Fetishism?

[Agritum]

So you traded Bigotry for Fetishism?

Fetishism?

He obviously prefer bigotry to fetishism.

[Person012345]

Zomg, you just proved that ALL ISREALIS ARE NAZIS. That's amazing that I was so wrong.

I use the Nazi example specifically because I'm talking about Israel, because it really gets the attention of the pro-Israel side.
To think I'm saying Israelis are Nazis is simply very stupid.

Why make the comparison then? It's totally meaningless. Totally. Meaningless. Read it back to yourself. The entire comparison has no point.

[Absurdity]

This is why no one takes the pro-Palestinian circle seriously: it's filled with alarmingly stupid and gullible people like yourself.

1. Palestinian rockets cause damage and kill innocents. But it's alright, be a good little sheep and ignore that.
2. Airstrikes on children? I think you might have mistaken violent, anti-Semitic Hamas military leaders for children. That's pretty silly.
3. Anyone who is "refused passage" is believed by the IDF to be a threat, and rightly so.
4. "Shooting Muslims for praying" -- If you're going to make things up, at least TRY to be realistic.
5. "Running over Americans with bulldozers" -- Oh, you mean that ONE incident that occurred over a decade ago that was actually an accident but Palestinian apologists continue to cling to it because it's the only argument against Israel that they have? Interesting.

Anything else?

Why do you hate Palestinians so much?
1. Partisans killed Nazis.
2. Israel has nothing against leveling apartment blocks if a Hamas militant is SUSPECTED of being there.
3. banning all males over the age of 14 from entering a mosque during ramadan, because they are all suicide bombers out to start another holocaust?
4. Muslims have been shot by IDF soldiers while praying in the street BECAUSE THEY WERE REFUSED ACCESS TO THE AFOREMENTIONED MOSQUE.
5.If you think that is the only argument against Israel you are quite possibly the stupidest person I have ever met.

I don't hate Palestinians at all. I hate willfully ignorant Palestinian apologists.

1. Relevance?
2. You also seem to think that Israel has nothing against killing innocent people, so your credibility goes out the window (as if you had any to begin with).
3. Source it.
4. Source it.
5. Correction: one of the only arguments stemming from an actual incident (which is exaggerated to hell and blown way out of proportion).

[Napkiraly]

So perhaps your beef should be the Chechens who did that crap rather than Chechens as whole. And regardless of who did it first, the Russian soldiers who did commit war crimes have no excuse for their asshatery.

I suppose, but the Chechen people as a whole see nothing wrong with such violence.

Going to need sauce on that.

[Winland]

A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet.

I will continue to think this way until someone takes advantage of me and scars me for life.

I'm actually pretty amazed that it hasn't happened yet, considering how much I hear about everyone's trust issues.

[Saiwania]

It isn't an either or proposition for me. Yes I am racist if caring about being in the majority and being for the preservation of White skin is racist, but no- I'm not the type of racist to believe that different skin colors are inherently superior to another. I'm not exclusively racist or non-racist, so I like to consider myself a pseudo-racist. I could go into very specific detail about in which ways I am racist or not, but it's complicated.

[Napkiraly]

It isn't an either or proposition for me. Yes I am racist if caring about being in the majority and being for the preservation of White skin is racist, but no- I'm not the type of racist to believe that different skin colors are inherently superior to another. I'm not exclusively racist or non-racist, so I like to consider myself a pseudo-racist. I could go into very specific detail about in which ways I am racist or not, but it's complicated.

So you're a false racist?

[Gigaverse]

In any case, I used to be incredibly racist against Hispanics, Africans, and pretty much every minority group that wasn't White or Asian as I felt they did not contribute to society...

Unfortunately, I'm still stuck with that in my mind.

And even more unfortunately, I know that.

[Person012345]

A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet.

I will continue to think this way until someone takes advantage of me and scars me for life.

I'm actually pretty amazed that it hasn't happened yet, considering how much I hear about everyone's trust issues.

I kind of still have a bit of that, I want to go around hugging everyone. Until I remember that they're probably all assholes.

[Unit 666]

I used to be "racist" in that I hated certain groups for what they did and how they acted, but I have changed my attitude towards them because many of them, despite their harmful behaviour, are not bad as people. Don't get too excited yet though, I have not revised my analysis of the situation, just my attitude towards the people.
Now I still acknowledge that they act in harmful ways, but I don't blame them for it anymore - they do not deserve to be hated. They just can't help it. I know a family who fled from Syria (not due to the recent civil war, but two decades ago), propably trying to escape violence, corruption, etc (they are Kurds, a somewhat marginalized ethnicity in much of the middle east). This family has four kids (afaik), two boys and two girls. One of the boys turned out pretty badly, had two illegitimate children at around age 20-ish, frequently gets into fights, steals and cheats. All that with parents who have university degrees. I do not know about the other kids very well. Anyways, this seems to be kind of symptomatic for alot of these families, and although I do acknowledge that it does happen in european white families too, it does seem to be alot more frequent in non-whites. These people have problems, nothing they deserve to be hated for. They are trying to run from a problem that is "written in their blood", so to speak (although I use the term "blood", this may be cultural perpetuation as well - I'm not necessarily a 'genetic' racist). They run from crime and corruption, but they themselves bear children that perpetuate the societal factors they ran from. I do not hate them for that at all (I mean, certainly, they don't deserve endless government support etc either, but that is more of an issue of justice, not of race), instead I see it as something of a medical affliction and I do not view them as inferior or legitimate targets of violence. I think this view is called "racialism", as opposed to "racism".

EDIT: On a second thought, I'm propably not racist at all anymore, because I indifferently hold the same views about criminal individuals and groups of european descent.

[Daranicuss]

I used to be a racist, but then I took a black person to the knee...

[Saiwania]

So you're a false racist?

No, I'm someone who is partially racist. For example, I'm not against everybody having equal civil rights but I'd still participate in White flight and wants de-facto segregation to remain as an option for people. Am not against allowing interracial marriage but am definitely for more same race marriages.

I don't want White skin to go extinct and it is my perception that it is declining towards that fate. There is little I can do to rectify that, but it still concerns me even if that will be after I am dead and gone.

[Person012345]

So you're a false racist?

No, I'm someone who is partially racist. For example, I'm not against everybody having equal civil rights but I'd still participate in White flight and wants de-facto segregation to remain as an option for people. Am not against allowing interracial marriage but am definitely for more same race marriages.

I don't want White skin to go extinct and it is my perception that it is declining towards that fate. There is little I can do to rectify that, but it still concerns me even if that will be after I am dead and gone.

Is there any particular reason why it matters?

[Person012345]

I used to be "racist" in that I hated certain groups for what they did and how they acted, but I have changed my attitude towards them because many of them, despite their harmful behaviour, are not bad as people. Don't get too excited yet though, I have not revised my analysis of the situation, just my attitude towards the people.
Now I still acknowledge that they act in harmful ways, but I don't blame them for it anymore - they do not deserve to be hated. They just can't help it. I know a family who fled from Syria (not due to the recent civil war, but two decades ago), propably trying to escape violence, corruption, etc (they are Kurds, a somewhat marginalized ethnicity in much of the middle east). This family has four kids (afaik), two boys and two girls. One of the boys turned out pretty badly, had two illegitimate children at around age 20-ish, frequently gets into fights, steals and cheats. All that with parents who have university degrees. I do not know about the other kids very well. Anyways, this seems to be kind of symptomatic for alot of these families, and although I do acknowledge that it does happen in european white families too, it does seem to be alot more frequent in non-whites. These people have problems, nothing they deserve to be hated for. They are trying to run from a problem that is "written in their blood", so to speak (although I use the term "blood", this may be cultural perpetuation as well - I'm not necessarily a 'genetic' racist). They run from crime and corruption, but they themselves bear children that perpetuate the societal factors they ran from. I do not hate them for that at all (I mean, certainly, they don't deserve endless government support etc either, but that is more of an issue of justice, not of race), instead I see it as something of a medical affliction and I do not view them as inferior or legitimate targets of violence. I think this view is called "racialism", as opposed to "racism".

EDIT: On a second thought, I'm propably not racist at all anymore, because I indifferently hold the same views about criminal individuals and groups of european descent.

So you think the syrian economy consists entirely of crime?

[Zonolia]

My elementary school taught us to hate gays, blacks, and democrats...but then I turned 13 and looked up "Communism" on wikipedia and realized I was taught by the extreme religious hate-filled right, and since then I had never looked back to that regressive ideology of hate.

[Unit 666]

So you think the syrian economy consists entirely of crime?

Did I say that? If my post could be interpreted that way, I suppose I need to clarify. Of course I do not hold that position, but corruption is more widespread there, especially if you are belonging to a group that is somewhat disenfranchised in society, in this case Kurds. I suppose the general state of the economy, including corruption, but also overall lack of productivity and income opportunities, was the 'push factor' for this family to emigrate.

[Winland]

A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet.

I will continue to think this way until someone takes advantage of me and scars me for life.

I'm actually pretty amazed that it hasn't happened yet, considering how much I hear about everyone's trust issues.

I kind of still have a bit of that, I want to go around hugging everyone. Until I remember that they're probably all assholes.

Only the power of friendship™ can free them of their ignorance and hatred!

[Mefpan]

Acquired a racist (and generally intolerant) mindset from my parents and am currently trying very hard to suppress these thoughts from flaring up because, honestly, they make no fucking sense.

Especially when the most friendly people I've talked to are either Polish, Jamaican, British, American, (Indian) Indian, even with the occasional Turk or Arab amongst that crowd. And all those I really consider close friends are, for the most part, social outcasts like me.

I don't want the ethnic origins of people to matter to me; what I do care about, however, is that they feel some sort of attachment or sense of duty towards the nation they currently live in - and adapt to the cultural norms present there.

Does that make me a civic nationalist? I don't even know.

[Lyassa and Nairoa]

I´m not a racist.
What I really, really hate is reverse discrimination, reverse racism - like affirmative action, special treatment for jews, and paternalism towards gypsies (basically they are paid to keep quiet, to not go around robbing other people).

[Unit 666]

I´m not a racist.
What I really, really hate is reverse discrimination, reverse racism - like affirmative action, special treatment for jews, and paternalism towards gypsies (basically they are paid to keep quiet, to not go around robbing other people).

And that.

[Saitama]

special treatment for jews

Explain this.

[Yaltabaoth]

I think there's valid discussion to be had in this thread, but getting into the specifics of why racism towards any particular group might be considered more / less valid than other groups, eg Israel / Palestine, isn't it.

Remember the topic is FORMER racists, and what made them change.

[Unit 666]

special treatment for jews

Explain this.

This is propably extremely country-specific. Speaking for Germany, out of "historical guilt", there have been innumerable instances of Israel as a country, and the Jewish community inside Germany, getting "special treatment". Israel has received a batch of German military submarines as a gift for example. I do not agree with Israel's policy in the middle east, to put it mildly. While I do acknowledge that this isn't, and should not be, the topic of this thread, it does make for a good example on how affirmative action towards certain groups gets in the way of sane policy decisions. If you would not donate submarines to a certain nation or group for any rational reason, then doing it because of historical associations will not make the decision to do so any smarter.

EDIT: Of course, I do not blame the Jews for the sillyness of German politicians, much less do I hate them on any other grounds.